Approaching Zero
by lis.liss.lisss
Summary: Yumi and Ulrich dance around each other, always holding each other at arm's length. Not in deep enough to be more than friends, but in too deep to be just friends. Always moving closer, but never coming close enough. When William wrecks havoc in Yumi's life, can she depend on Ulrich to help her or will he make the biggest mistake of his life? UxY.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
Yumi

Ugh. Gym class again. There goes Sissi trying to look all cute while impressing Ulrich with her so-called roundhouse kicks. As usual, Hiroki is off pining for Milly and Odd left for the "bathroom" at least fifteen minutes ago… All in all, a normal day of gym class in the middle of October. Wonderful.

"Ulrich, dear!" I roll my eyes. There Sissi goes again. "Can you show me how to do that circle kick again? I just can't seem to get the hang of it!"

"Roundhouse, not circle kick, Sissi," Ulrich replies blandly. "Why don't you just ask Herb?"

"I'll be glad to show you, Sissi!" Herb pipes up quickly. "Just position your shoulder like this…" Ulrich chuckles softly as Sissi huffs in frustration. I love the way his eyes always slide shut when he smiles. I start to laugh along with him when his eyes open, holding onto mine.

"Come on, Yumi," he says, tossing his head to the left. "Wanna fight?"

I smirk. "Oh, you're so on." We take our stances on the mat with Jim acting as referee.

As Lyoko Warriors constantly tasked with keeping each other safe, we know each other's fighting styles very well. I know that Ulrich tends to stay in one spot, making big, slashing movements, and Ulrich knows that I prefer slight movements and quick retreats, then starting the process over. We kick our shoes off, picking up tracks of dust on our socks. Mine white ankle socks, his an unusual mix of green and purple. I raise an eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that! Odd's _special friend_ ruined the rest of my clean socks!" We both laughed. Kiwi must have been taking another nap in Ulrich's sock drawer.

"Alright, enough chitter chatter," Jim grouses. "Let's see a good fight! Should be a good one with my two best fighters. Maybe we should start a boxing team…" he adds as an afterthought.

As usual, Ulrich is the first to take off, and I quickly dodge. We get caught up in the moment, neither of us really gaining on the other, until I strike him hard in the sternum.

"Ahhh! Geez, Yumi, you're gonna break a rib!" Ulrich gasps as he leans a hand on his knee.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Just as I move in to… yes, okay, I definitely wanted to touch his chest… a mischievous glint cross his eyes and wrapped his arms around me, his front pressed to my back, his hands holding my wrists together.

"Almost too easy," Ulrich teases me.

"Oh, come on, Jim, is that even legal?" Sissi complains in the distant background.

"Say uncle yet?"

"Oh, no way!" I exclaim. I turn my palms together and force them apart as I jerk my hips back, effectively pushing him Ulrich away from me. I catch him by surprise with a knee in the stomach, and then knock him on the floor.

"You're coming down with me!" Ulrich yelps as he drags me down by the wrist. I land on top of him and move to straddle him, forcing his hands above his head.

"Say uncle yet?" I tease back. Ulrich just laughs at me.

"Aaaaaand kiss!" A shrill voice cuts through the air. I abruptly realize how close we are; if I leaned in just a little, we actually could kiss. Of course, I turn into a blushing, stuttering mess. I scramble to get off of him, possibly kneeing him in a particularly sensitive area on the way up. My suspicions are confirmed by a stifled groan. How embarrassing!

"Shut up, Hiroki! Ulrich and I are just good friends, got that?" I rebuke heatedly.

"Yeah, great friends," Ulrich mutters. Geez, what's his problem? His little brother didn't just embarrass him in front of the entire gym class! God, why does this little nuisance of a brother have to ruin everything?

"Alright, alright, enough squabbling. Class dismissed," Jim calls out. I take off without a second look. I don't realize until I am halfway back to the lunchroom and it starts drizzling that I left my jacket and regular school clothes in the gym. Great!

"Woah, Yumi, wait up!" I keep a groan to myself. At any other time, I would smile at the sound of Ulrich's voice, but Hiroki's teasing and Ulrich's confirmation that we're just good friends still sting a little. "Come on, Yumi, you've got to be freezing."

Well, he isn't wrong about that. My t-shirt and leggings don't do much to protect me from the cold, but I still don't trust myself not to say anything to worsen my embarrassment.

"Here, take my hoodie." He slips off his jacket to pull off his sweatshirt and hand it to me, leaving him with a thick raincoat.

"No way! You're going to freeze to death if you give that to me." I try to push it away from me.

"But Ms. Ishiyama," he laughs with a gruff accent. "You forget that I have German blood running through my veins. We are bred for the cold!"

"Oh, stop," I nudge his shoulder. "Just because your grandfather's German doesn't make you German too!"

"I'm German enough to be named _Ulrich Stern_. I think we can let this one slide. Besides, a young Japanese butterfly like yourself would wilt in this coming winter storm!" he jokes back.

"Madame Butterfly commits suicide after pining after an American soldier, you know." I roll my eyes.

"Oh." Ulrich seems dumbfounded for a second. When it's clear that he won't take the stupid sweatshirt back, I grudgingly pull it on. It smells like him.

"You know… about what Hiroki said earlier," Ulrich starts, awkwardly touching his neck. Oh, no. Time for damage control.

"Don't worry about it," I interrupt him. "He says stupid stuff like that all the time. Still friends though, right?" I wait nervously for his answer. If Ulrich stopped talking to me because of my stupid brother's comment, I don't know what I would do.

"Yeah," he finally says. For some reason, he refuses to meet my eyes. "Still friends."

"I should go back to get my stuff. Thanks for the sweater," I say weakly.

"Yeah," he repeats absentmindedly. "No problem."

I leave him at the door of the lunchroom, raindrops collecting on his ever-messy brown hair. He doesn't go in. Instead, he pulls at his hair and stomps off, nearly barreling into a group of seventh graders. I thought I had fixed everything, but why does everything feel so wrong?

 **Hello and welcome to my first Code Lyoko story. I just rewatched the series (but not Code Lyoko Evolution) and had some inspiration. This fic will be centered around Ulrich and Yumi, with minimal XANA things going on. Also, Yumi, Ulrich, Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, and all of the older characters are all in 10th grade. Cool. Let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

Ulrich

I stand outside in the light rain, unable to bring myself to walk the last few feet to the warmth of the dining hall. Great. I have soccer practice later, and Yumi still has my sweatshirt… but I can't help but enjoy the thought of her wrapped in my scent, Kadic Soccer emblazoned on the front, STERN 03 flashing on the back. I hope I smell good.

"Watcha waitin' for, good buddy?" Odd rambunctiously rams into me. "Lunch time is the best time of the day!"

"Yeah," I laugh weakly. Why can't I get this girl out of my head? Good friends. She sees me as a good friend. Trying to shake the feeling of rejection, I follow him inside.

Lunch and the rest of classes pass by uneventfully. Jeremie blabbered on about some antivirus or something for Lyoko, Aelita was off finishing a chemistry test, Odd somehow earned himself an hour of detention, and Yumi was suspiciously missing. Unusual, but uneventful. I ate my string beans in peace, hopefully B-plussed my way through a geometry test, and head off for soccer practice.

Not feeling like walking around in this annoying drizzle, I decide to take a shortcut through the volleyball gym. The volleyball gym is usually filled with girls warming up for their next scrimmage, but they have an away game scheduled pretty far away, so the gym is uncharacteristically empty today. Everything seems perfectly normal: blue padded walls, racks of volleyballs, the occasional whir of a ceiling fan. Suddenly, I hear a weird yelp. Turning to the right, I see my worst nightmare.

Yumi's back pressed against the wall, lips locked with… William's. The space between their bodies is nonexistent. Her hands are pressed firmly against his chest. When the gym door slams behind me, they break apart in surprise. When Yumi sees me, her eyes water.

"Ulrich, please," she starts.

"Save it, Yumi," I scoff back. I head to the other side of the gym, toward the locker rooms. I don't realize until my third warm-up lap that I had never seen Yumi cry before.

"The game against Oakton is this Thursday evening. You'll be there, right, guys?" It's Tuesday morning, and I can't stop chattering about the big game in a couple days. I hand Odd the remains of my croissant before continuing. "It's gonna be huge. It's the first game that recruiting agents are coming to, and I think I have a chance at impressing one of them!"

"Of course we'll be there, fella!" Odd exclaims cheerfully. "Plus you're sophomore JV captain, and you've been a floater for the Varsity team since freshman year. You're gonna be great!"

"Really? Thanks, guys!" Jeremie and Aelita hum their assent, giving me cheerful smiles. "Yumi?" Yumi has been silent all breakfast and a little off since our little run-in at the gym last Friday. I try to brush it off.

"Hm? Yeah, of course," she starts, but she's interrupted by her glorious new boyfriend. Way to deflate my mood.

"Yumi, I thought we were going to have breakfast together," William states. He looks upset.

"I ate at home, William. Besides we have English together first period." As William takes her wrist, Yumi finally lifts her eyes to mine. They're swollen and bloodshot. "Ulrich," she whispers.

Annoyance flares through me. I don't know what her game is, but I'm not playing it. "Hey, Sissi," I call out as she walks by. "Wanna grab dinner tonight?" I ignore the gasps around the table.

"What, me?" Sissi asks, surprised. "Oh, okay, sure!"

"Great," I toss her a smile, and she blushes. Maybe this is what they call boyish charm. "Wear something pretty." Bleh, being this forward does not suit me. From the corner of my eye, I notice Yumi get up and follow William out.

Aelita, Jeremie, and Odd gape at me. "What?" I snap.

"Well, Ulrich…" Jeremie stutters. Aelita is still speechless and watches Yumi's retreating figure.

"What Einstein here means to say is," Odd interrupts, "that was sure as hell a dick move, Ulrich. Way to go."

I shove my trash into the nearest garbage bin and take off without another grumble. I'm about to enter the geometry classroom when a hand wraps around my bicep and pulls me harshly to the side.

"Hey, what's goin-"

"Listen here, Ulrich," Sissi cuts in maliciously. "I might be in to you but I'm not so desperate that I would be your rebound girl!"

"What?"

"I know you asked me out just to make Yumi jealous," she continues. "Congratulations, you managed to make her more upset."

"Sissi, what are you talking about?" I don't have the time or patience for this. "Yumi was the one who said we were just friends in the first place, so forget about that, okay?"

Sissi stares at me. "Wow, I know that Yumi has an awful time confronting her feelings, but you refuse to admit you have them in the first place!"

"What? I do too have feelings!"

"Ulrich, you have as many feelings as a statue. If your friends call Jeremie Einstein and Aelita Princess, they might as well call you Bear! You're just so stoic!"

"Are you done?" I ask flatly. I'm already late for history, and I never asked for this interrogation-intervention-thing in the first place.

"Okay, okay, I'll get going," Sissi snarks. "Just one last thing. Aren't people supposed to be happy in a relationship?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I call after her, but Sissi just keeps walking down the hallway. I sigh and walk into geometry. I can't help thinking that I'm making a huge mistake, but I can't tie down the foreboding thought that's niggling at the back of my mind.

 **What's going on between Yumi and William? Is Ulrich making a mistake? What is Sissi talking about? Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

Yumi

"William, please let me go!" He is gripping my wrist way too tight and practically dragging me out of breakfast. We burst into the English classroom, but no one is around to hear my cries.

"What did I tell you about spending time with those delinquents?" he asks gruffly.

"They're not delinquents. They're my friends!"

"Not anymore!" He shoves me into my usual seat and takes the chair next to me, where Odd usually sits. "I don't want you spending any more time them, especially Stern," he snarls.

"William, we're not even dating, and you certainly couldn't control me if we were," I argue back.

"Wrong!" He slams a hand on the two-seater table. "We are together now, and I am tired of having to fight with you over Ulrich. Now get with the program!"

"I'll tell," I threaten. "I'll report you to Mr. Delmas!"

"Oh no, not Mr. Delmas!" William laughs. "Yumi, face it. Not even your precious Ulrich wants to help you, and the teachers here think I'm a golden child. Besides, who would care about you, you scrawny, ugly thing?"

And just to prove his point, the teacher walks in with the rest of class and a cheery hello. "How are you today, Yumi and William?"

"Just fine, Ms. Schwann," William replies. Damn him! Not even a look of suspicion on her face.

"You're in my seat," Odd complains.

"Whoops, sorry, Odd," William grins through his perfect school child mask. "I'll get out of the way for ya." With a kiss on my cheek, he scoots off with a warning glare shot at me.

"Everything okay, Yumi?" Odd asks.

"Fantastic," I mutter.

My phone lights up with a text. _Don't pick too much at the scab or it's going to get worse. Love, William._ My eyes widen at the threat. Oh no, I'm in trouble.

"Yumi? Come on in," Mr. Delmas calls. I take a deep breath and sit on a chair in front of his desk. "What did you need to speak to me about?"

"It's about William Dunbar, Mr. Delmas," I begin.

"William? A wonderful student. What is it?"

"He's been threatening me. He keeps following me and tries to stop me from hanging with my friends. Please, I need your help!"

"Well, Yumi…" I can tell that he doesn't have any high regards for my friends or me, but he's one of my last hopes.

"Mr. Delmas, please, I wouldn't be coming to you unless I seriously needed help."

"That's funny, because William came in here just yesterday worried about you," he says thoughtfully.

"What?" I stutter. "What did he say?"

"That he was worried that your friends were a bad influence. He wanted to befriend you but didn't know how to catch your attention. In fact, I encouraged him to approach you!"

"But, Mr. Delmas, William has been nothing but controlling and a-"

"Come on now, Yumi, don't be like that. I'm sure that William is very sweet and only wants the best for you. Now, it's time for my faculty meeting. I'm afraid that I will have to leave now."

Frustrated, I slink out the door. Why won't anyone believe me? If the adults refuse to believe me, then I'll have to go to my friends. If they don't take me seriously either, I don't know what I'll do.

Even though he seems to be giving me the cold shoulder recently, I can't help but run to Ulrich. He's been my closest friend since seventh grade, and I hope he'll be in better spirits when I seek him out. He was the one I always sent late night texts to. He was the one who always listened to me. Despite our history, I know that something is different. He barely looks at me and his presence online is minimal. I honestly don't know what has him so upset, but I do know that he has never been an open book. I am – or at this rate, was – his closest friend, and I barely know what he's thinking.

I climb to the top level of the bleachers at the soccer stadium. From here, the players just look like little blue and white dots, but I can easily pick out Ulrich on the dark green turf. He has always been the fastest runner out of all of us, and his recent growth spurt has only increased his speed. He takes possession of the ball, passing it across the field to his teammate. As his teammate kicks the ball high in the air back across the field, Ulrich sprints forward, leaps, and scores with a bicycle kick. I smile. I suggested that move and helped him perfect his flip.

William dropped me off at home after classes today, but I told the rest of my family that I would be eating dinner at school and snuck back here. Hopefully, I can get a few hours of peace without Hiroki constantly pestering me with questions and William breathing down my neck. Even though I'm alone up here in the bleachers, my mind can't seem to get a rest from the very guy I'm trying to avoid. Most of the time, he's one of the sweetest, funniest guys I know. Today on the walk home, he held my hand and told jokes the whole way home. He even _apologized_ for the way he was acting today; he said that my spending time with Ulrich made him feel jealous and he reacted in the worst way possible. It wouldn't happen again, he said. For a second, I believed him.

Even with his horrible plots to gain my attention, I can't help but like the attention he gives me when I stick around long enough to listen to him. After spending so long distantly admiring a guy with as many facial expressions as a rock, it's… nice to listen to someone tell me I'm pretty when I tuck my hair behind my ear or that I'm the smartest person he knows. Instead of wanting someone to notice me, I have someone bending over backwards to get me to notice him. And he pays attention to everything about me. For the first time, I feel… wanted.

But at the same time, I feel… scared. This type of attention William keeps giving me has to be dangerous. I feel like I'm his possession. He feeds me compliments and expects favors in return. Maybe if I stop angering him, we can have a normal, happy relationship like in movies and books. Maybe I'm delusional, but maybe William is trying to give me what Ulrich seems to be incapable of providing. Maybe I need a clean break from Ulrich and his impossible-to-read visage.

It's so hard to think when your heart is breaking.

 **Hold up! Woah, what's wrong with William? For anyone surprised by William's surprising actions, please note that his characterization is PURPOSEFULLY SKEWED in the next few chapters because we are seeing him from the points of view of two characters who immensely dislike him. William is NOT EVIL; Yumi and Ulrich just THINK he is. The focus of the story is Yumi and Ulrich's evolving relationship, but an explanation for William will come in a future chapter. If enough people are interested, I am willing to write a one-shot in William POV.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think! How will Ulrich react? Is Yumi on the right track? Does Yumi have to choose between Ulrich and William? How should Yumi deal with William?**


	4. Chapter 4

Ulrich

The crisp October air feels clean against my lungs. My face is still heated from our last drill, but I'm feeling great. I feel on top of the world. All of my pent-up energy translated into extra endurance on the field; sports have always been my coping mechanism. Tomorrow is our rest day and team pasta party, and then the game is the day after. We are going to crush Oakton.

As the team heads toward the locker rooms, Yumi walks down the steps of the bleachers. Her aura is magnetic, but her face has been drooping lately. Irritation burns through me, but I keep a straight face. Yumi means absolutely everything to me, but her rejection and sudden relationship with _him_ are crushing weights on my chest.

"Ulrich," she murmurs. Her voice is weaker than I remembered it. "We need to talk."

"What about?" I raise an eyebrow. She lifts her eyes to mine.

"I need your help."  
"Why don't you ask your boyfriend?" I scoff. Her eyes widen.

"Actually, it's about him," she whispers. I throw my hands in the air.

"Listen, Yumi, I don't have time for this. I'm no relationship expert. If you want advice on La La Land, you'll have to ask Sissi." My stomach is churning. How could she come here and throw her perfect boyfriend in my face?

"Ulrich, what have I done for you to treat me like this?" she cries out. I pretend not to hear the waver in her voice. I close my eyes as images of her pressed against William in the gym, Yumi and William walking hand in hand, William taking Yumi away from me during breakfast.

 _Just friends. Just friends. Just friends._ I hear the mantra against the pounding of my heart. Yumi was the one who broke us apart, but did we ever have anything to begin with?

I finally open my eyes. I feel myself harden. "Nothing," I state. Then I change my mind. "Everything."

A tear slides down Yumi's cheek. A thought swims to attention. Until now, in the four years that I have known her, I had never seen Yumi cry. And now it was because of me.

And just because I wanted Yumi to feel my pain, I said, "I've got a date in an hour. I have to go." It was petty and a complete lie, but Yumi didn't know that Sissi blew me off ten minutes after I asked her out. I turn to leave.

"Y-you," Yumi shudders. "You don't have time for me." Late night texts, hushed phone calls, whispered secrets fill my mind.

I turn back around, but I don't move.

"Fine," she responds. "If you don't want to hear what I have to say, just listen to this. Ulrich, you, out of every single person on this Earth, have the greatest power to hurt me. And you're doing a great job of it right now."

She brushes past me on her way to the ground floor exit. I make a wild grab at her wrist to stop her, but she recoils violently.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I demand. Am I worried? Confused? Caught off guard? I have no idea. It's so hard to think when your world is shaking.

"You mean everything to me, but I mean nothing to you," she says simply. She takes off.

Fuck. What did I just do?

 _You mean everything to me, but I mean nothing to you. You mean everything to me, but I mean nothing to you. You mean… I mean… Nothing… Everything…_ I can't do anything to force Yumi's stricken face from my head. Late night shower didn't work. Early morning run didn't work. Not even the amazing wonders of Shakespeare could distract me from the feeling that something was really, really wrong. Yumi never showed up to breakfast today, and the rest of our friends have held me at arm's length. Not really surprising after I've been such a dick, though. After I nearly gave Odd a concussion when he tried to interrogate me the other day, we've all been walking on eggshells.

"What about you, huh, Ulrich? Would you die for Yumi like Romeo died for Juliet?" Odd's voice breaks through my thoughts.

"Huh?" I mutter absentmindedly. "You'd best believe it," I respond without thinking. Everyone becomes strangely quiet, and I look up to find everyone suddenly staring at me in the middle of the hallway. "What?" I ask self-consciously.

"So you care about Yumi so much that you would die for her, and yet you've been avoiding each other like the plague. What gives, man?" Odd questions wildly. My eyes dart around.

"Do we really have to do this? Here?" I hiss.

"Oh yeah, we do," Odd fires back. "We all know that something's wrong with Yumi and it has something to do with you!"

"Really?" I argue hotly. "If you like her so much, you ask her!"

"We've tried, Ulrich," Aelita cuts in calmly. "But she only ever wants to talk to you!" _You mean everything to me, but I mean nothing to you._

"It all started when she started hanging around William," Jeremie remarks.

"If she's having trouble in paradise with the guy she replaced me with," I growl.

"Really?" Odd interrupts incredulously. "You're acting like a Grade A dick because you're jealous of _William?_ Are you twelve? Let's also not forget that you tried to go out with Sissi just to spite her!"

"Forget this," I mutter. I've had enough of the screaming, fighting, and complaining. Dark bitterness tinged with the sting of rejection still churns in my stomach.

"Ulrich?" I feel a tug at my jacket. I whip around.

"What?" I snap, coming face to face with Hiroki. I sigh. "Is this about Yumi?"

Hiroki nods. "Ulrich, I really need to talk to you. Please." I hesitate. I've already screwed so many other things over. Me and my hot temper are more than likely to make it worse.

"It's time for you to get your head out of your ass and start listening," Odd snarls. He pushes Hiroki and me across the quad. "We'll make up an excuse for you in history." The gang leaves me with Hiroki.

"What is it," I sigh.

"You know that I look up to you and stuff, right?" Hiroki starts nervously. "And you're Yumi's best friend. Like ever."

"I am?" I crinkle a brow.

"Yeah, of course! Anyway, Yumi has been acting really strangely recently. Like, she's cried three times in the past six days alone. Yumi never cries! Not even when she broke her wrist in sixth grade!" A deepening sense of doom pounds through my core. I caused that.

"And speaking about wrists, you should have seen when her sleeve rode up during dinner," Hiroki continues without sparing a breath. "It looked worse than when she first got her cast off! It looked like someone had gone like this!" He takes my hand and wraps his fingers around my wrist, squeezing as tightly as he could. "When I tried to talk to her about it, she-"

"She slammed the door in your face?" I ask. In any other situation it would have been lighthearted.

"No!" Hiroki yelps. "I didn't get a good look the first time, but yesterday her sleeve fell down all the way when she was reaching for something in the linen closet. When I asked her about it again, she started crying, _again,_ and took off. She hasn't been home since!"

 _I make a wild grab at her wrist to stop her, but she recoils violently._ Oh my god, this can't be happening.

"Hiroki, when was the last time you saw your sister?" I ask fearfully.

"Yesterday, right after William brought her home."

 _I make a wild grab at her wrist to stop her, but she recoils violently._ She was injured before she came to see me, I realize with relief. Just as quickly, my worries return to me. She was coming to me for help, and I brutally rejected her worse than she pushed me away in the first place. I pull at my hair.

"But, Ulrich, that isn't even the worst part. After she ran off, I checked the closet. The only thing on the top shelf is a first aid kit!"

"Was she looking for a Band-Aid?" I ask weakly.

Hiroki shakes his head vigorously. "We keep our normal Band-Aids and stuff in the kitchen cabinet. Yumi's hurt really bad, and no one can find her!"

 _Aren't people supposed to be happy in a relationship?_

 _Ulrich, please. I need your help. Ulrich, you have the greatest power to hurt me._

 _I make a wild grab at her wrist to stop her, but she recoils violently._

 _You mean everything to me, but I mean nothing to you._

The weight of the situation slams down on me a hundredfold. I fight the urge to punch a wall. How could I have ignored all of the warning signs? How could I have been such an awful friend? How could I make this right again?

 **What happened to Yumi? Any guesses? Stay tuned to find out!**


	5. Chapter 5

Yumi

I wake up… I think. Everything is so dark. The air is thick with dust, forcing me to cough violently. The coughing aggravates my ribs. I can't breathe. I can't breathe.

Where am I? Once the room stops spinning, I realize that I'm lying on the floor. Concrete floor. I'm inside somewhere.

I force my head from side to side and notice a strip of light. It twirls and floats in front of me before lying still. A horizontal strip of light. A door!

I try to flip onto my stomach to crawl over, but the pressure on my ribs causes dark purple spots to dance in my eyes. My stomach clenches. Oh god, I'm going to throw up.

 _Bzzzzz, bzzzzz. Bzzzz, bzzzzz._ What the hell is that? A bright white rectangle lights up on the floor by my foot. I stretch out a toe to nudge is towards me, but my entire leg suddenly flares with white-hot excruciating pain. _Hurrrrghh_ , I scream into the darkness, coughing in the soupy air, clutching tightly at my throbbing ribs. Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop!

Pressing my face against the cool concrete, I grit my teeth and swing myself around. I fumble with the leg that doesn't seem to be broken, dragging a limp leg as I spin myself around on the floor. Sparks fly in the edges of my vision and the breaths I am able to take can't provide my heart with the oxygen it needs at the rate it's beating. My pulse flutters at my temples. Something warm and wet drips down my arm.

Under the gloomy haze, I am vaguely aware that I am in extreme pain: my leg seems crooked, my ribs are busted, my head is sporting a bump the size of a mountain.

And I don't remember what happened. Great.

 _Bzzzz, bzzzz._ I'm too tired to answer it. _Bzzzz, bzzzz._ I manage to bump the answer button with my nose.

"He-he," I cough. "Hu-llo?"

"Oh, thank god," the tinny voice on the other line answers. "Yumi, are you okay?"

"No," I slur. "Who dis?"

"It's me, Ulrich," Ulrich replies anxiously. "Where the hell are you?"

Good question. Where am I? How did I get here? "Du… dunno," I wheeze. "Hurts."

"Okay, don't worry. I'll get Einstein to trace your phone." Einstein? Isn't he dead? "Yumi? Yumi! Stay with me!"

"Yeah," I mumble. The cool floor feels so good but I still can't breathe. It smells funny in here.

"Where does it hurt, Yumi?" the tinny voice puffs. He sounds funny. I don't know. It hurts in too many places to count. "Yumi!"

"Head," I mutter, starting at the top. Does my neck hurt? "Yeah," I reply to myself. "Neck hurts. Arm? Both arms. Ribs. Can't breathe. Leg, but just one. Maybe foot. I dunno." I'm wheezing, my eyes are crossing, and even though it's dark, I see funny shapes swirling in the distance.

"Stay with me, Yumi," the tinny voice says. He sounds scary like that. Like he's warning me. Sounds familiar.

 _You're going to stay with me, Yumi. You're never going to leave._ I gasp as images of a dark-haired boy flood my vision, leading me to another coughing fit.

"I'll stay," I mumble. I'm vaguely aware of gentle hands cradling my face. "Please," I beg. "Please stop."

 _I know you snuck out last night! You told me you wouldn't see him again! This is what happens when you break your promises!_

I black out.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._ My vision is blurry; my senses are fuzzy. I have a headache, but at least this bed is comfortable.

"Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling?" My mom slips a pair of glasses on my face.

"What happened?" I mumble. The walls are olive green with white accents. An olive green jacket flashes through my mind, but I can't pin down who it belongs to.

"You were attacked and left in a shed on campus," my mom says cautiously. She peers down at me. "Do you remember who did it?"

"Black," I mumble. I furrow my eyebrows, but it only makes my headache worse and my memory fuzzier. "Black hair… I can't remember," I sigh. "Who found me?"

"Ulrich and Hiroki," Mom answers easily. "Your friends have been worried sick about you. My leg, now encased in a black cast, starts throbbing. I breathe through the pain. It smells clean in here.

"Hiroki," I murmur. I owe that pesky brother big time. "What day is it?"

"It's Friday afternoon. You've been in and out of consciousness since Wednesday morning." Mom smooths the sheets around me. "I won't overwhelm you with too many details too soon. You'll heal. Don't worry," she says with a kiss to my forehead.

There's a knock at the door. "Hi, Yumi," a young nurse says. "I'm here to take your vitals and remove your catheter. Can I come in?"

"My what?" I suddenly realize what I'm wearing. A hospital gown. And that's it. No underwear, no socks, no nothing. Just a funny tube running up my legs that… Oh. I blush. I guess that's how they managed my… bathroom business.

The nurse went about her business, check my numerous bandages, blood pressure, heartbeat, lungs, you name it. Pulling out the catheter was an _interesting_ process, to say the least. I'm so glad my nurse was a girl.

"Okay, you seem to be all set. Thankfully, you don't have a concussion, just a nasty bruise. Passing out and any dizziness you felt were probably the result of physical trauma and lack of nutrition, but you'll be fine," the nurse smiles. Glancing at the nurse's scrubs covered with Tweety Bird, I realize that I'm in the pediatric center of the hospital.

"When can I go home?" I ask.

"Well," the nurse replies. "Now that you're awake and fully functioning, we'll keep you for another day or two for observation, just to make sure you're doing okay. Because of the injuries to your leg and arms, you'll have to have someone push you around in a wheelchair, but we'll figure that out later, okay?"

"Okay," I mumble.

The nurse brushes a light brown lock of hair behind her ear and adjusts her necklace. "Well, if you don't need anything else for now, I'll get out of your hair. Press this button here if you need anything; I'll be here until eleven tonight. I'm Kelly, by the way."

"Your friends are here to see you," Mom adds in as Kelly leaves. "Would you like me to let them in?"

"Sure," I say, but I don't really remember who they are. A crowd of people walk through the door. At the front is a blonde guy with a purple streak through his hair.

"Hey there, Yumi, how ya been?" he remarks cheerfully. I stare at him. I smile. How could I have forgotten?

"Hey, Odd," I reply.

"Yeah!" he exclaims. "What'd I tell ya, Einstein? Told you our strong girl wouldn't have any retro game amnesia!"

"Retro _grade_ amnesia," a stuffy voice responds from the middle of the group. _I'll get Einstein to trace your phone._

"I thought Einstein was dead," I think out loud.

"Albert Einstein is dead. Jeremie Bellpois, AKA Einstein, right here and in the flesh," Jeremie explains, popping out from behind Odd's back.

"How could I forget?" I smile as my memories trickle back. "Our very own computer genius." Jeremie smiles shyly and shuffles his feet.

"Yumi," a black-haired demon darts for me. "I'm so glad you're okay." I rear back, straining my ribs. I choke and cough as I back away from him.

"Get away," I cry out. Images of this same boy hitting me with a tree branch, feet pounding into my chest, head slamming against the wall, hands around my neck.

"Woah, easy," a voice croons. A hand wraps around mine and I jerk away, but it just comes back and interlocks my fingers. "He's gone and you're okay."

A pair of brown eyes stares into my own, studying my face. He is paler than I remember him and his hair doesn't lie flat like it usually does. His eyes are bloodshot. This mysterious boy has been crying, and, judging by the way he refuses to let go of me, he's been crying over me. "Are you Ulrich?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yeah, Yumi," he sighs. "It's me. I'm so sorry." Wait. What does he have to be sorry about?

"Well, I'm hungry. Princess, Jeremie, let's go grab a snack from the cafeteria. Mmm, yum," Odd rambles as he shoves everyone out. My favorite pink friend shouts a hello and promises to visit later as she is pushed out the door.

Suddenly, Ulrich and I are alone.

"Yumi," Ulrich begins, rubbing his face with his free hand. "How much do you remember?"

"The last thing I remember," I trail off. I groan. "Do you know how I did on my chemistry test?"

Ulrich chuckles. "You got a 96," he replies. He grows solemn. "We got that test back last Tuesday," he says. "You don't remember our fight." What?

"I guess I don't."

"I promise you, Yumi," Ulrich says with complete seriousness, "that I'm going to be completely honest. I'll tell you the truth – all of it – no matter how much it hurts me. You deserve that much after my pigheadedness got you into this mess."

"Ulrich, what…?"

"You're going to hate me after this," he cries quietly. He looks me in the eye. He looks at me as though he would tie the moon on a string like a balloon as a Christmas present. He looks at me as though he wishes he could rewrite history. And I guess he could, since I don't remember what happened, but his next words change my mind.

"It's my fault you got hurt."


	6. Chapter 6

Ulrich

With my right hand interlocked with her left and her eyes looking into mine with such open warmth, I feel closer to Yumi than I ever have before, except for the fact that her memories of me seem to be gone. After all the stupid things I've done, I don't deserve her kindness, but she does deserve the truth. I glance around the room, taking in the TV mounted on the wall, the baby crib stashed in a convenient corner, Yumi's black cast stretching from her toes to her knee. Her arms are covered in soft white bandages with an IV tube poking out of the crook of her left elbow.

"Everything started during gym class last Friday," I begin. Yumi shifts in bed as she listens. "We were sparring and you landed on top of me. Someone screamed at us to kiss but… I guess you got uncomfortable because you said we were just friends and stormed off."

"Sounds like something I would do," Yumi mutters, picking at a stray thread on her blanket. "And are we just friends?"

"Yeah," I swallow dryly. "Sort of."

"What do you mean, _sort of?"_

"I'll get to that," I reassure her. Yumi looks at everything except me. I look at her face, wishing I could do anything to smooth away the creases forming in between her eyebrows. "I caught up to you outside after grabbing my stuff. I tried to bring up our almost kiss, but you just repeated yourself. Just friends."

Yumi looks at me. "I left you standing in the rain," she says.

"Mhmm," I confirm.

"Why?"

"I was upset," I reply shakily. I stare at a random corner in the room. "I was stubborn and stupid and jealous."

"Why?"

I take a deep breath and answer quickly, "In truth, I actually wanted you to kiss me." She gasps and blinks back tears. "Please don't cry," I mumble. "I'd do anything if it meant that you would never be sad enough to cry again."

"Yumi? Please, tell me what you're thinking," I plead quietly. I'd do anything to be able to stay by her side.

"You gave me your sweatshirt," she remembers after a long moment. She stares at a scuff mark on the wall. "It was warm. Thank you." She looks up as though she were thinking hard. Maybe she's trying to remember something else.

"It was no problem," I reply then continue with the story. "Later on before soccer practice, I was taking a shortcut through the volleyball gym. I saw you with William."

"Wait," Yumi gasps. She screws her eyes shut. "Ulrich, please," she whispers. I can't tell if she knows she's repeating what she said that exact same day.

"You said that exact same thing," I continue softly. "I thought…"

"You walked away from me!" Yumi interrupts. " _Ulrich, please. Ulrich, please. Ulrich, please,_ " she repeats. Her eyes flash. She's figured me out. "You were jealous that William and I were so close and kissing each other. I was calling out for help, not forgiveness! He assaulted me!"

 _Her hands pressed against his chest._ My lungs tighten. My throat closes. Then I remember what I hadn't paid attention to before. _Her elbows tight and bent. Her eyes watering._ She had been hurt and I pushed her away. If I had stayed for one more minute, this would never have happened.

"Did I ever give back your sweatshirt?" Yumi demands suddenly, eyes darting all over the room.

"No," I answer cautiously. She twists her hand out of mine to bring them to her face.

"I snuck back home to pick up some stuff. I wandered out. I took my bag and whatever jacket I could find. It ended up being yours." Yumi shudders between sentences. "He got mad. Really mad. Worse than ever."

"It's gonna be okay," I try to sooth her.

"When he realized he'd gone too far, he stuffed me in a shed across campus."

"Yumi, you have to calm down. You're going to hurt your ribs!"

"I needed you!" she thunders, gasping in between wild exclamations. "William might have put me in the hospital, but you were the one who hurt me the most."

"I know," I whisper. I look up at the ceiling, willing my eyes to dry. "I'm so sorry," I tell her because I don't know what else to say.

"You mean everything to me, but I mean nothing to you," Yumi repeats again.

"No," I say firmly. That was the last thing she said to me before she went missing, and I would never forgive myself if she kept thinking that. "Yumi, you're my closest friend. I'd do anything just to see you smile. You're funny and you're smart and you're the best person I know."

"You say all that but you weren't there for me when I needed you most," she sniffles. "I can't trust you."

I feel like she just drove a nail through my coffin. "I'm so sorry, Yumi."

"We can be friends, nothing more," she says. "Ever."

I nod solemnly.

xxx

"How'd everything go?" Odd asks that night.

"Better than it could've gone," I sigh at the ceiling. "She still kicked me out though."  
"Ha!" Odd laughs sardonically in the dark. "You deserved it."

"Yeah."

"You're not going to go messing with her head again, right?" Odd says seriously. "You've done enough damage for a lifetime."

"I know. And I won't." I mean it. No more hiding. No more secrets. "I told her everything."

"Everything?" Odd repeats incredulously.

"I told her I liked her, okay?" I snap impatiently as I await hysterics.

"Took you long enough!" Odd yelps. Our neighbors pound the wall next to us at his obnoxious voice. "Who would've known? Our own resident Boo Radley finally admits his feelings."

"Hey! I do too have feelings!" Why does everyone think I'm such a rock or something?

"The problem with you, Ulrich," Odd says thoughtfully, "is that you don't wear your emotions on your face. You wear them through your body language, which is why it's so easy for everyone except Yumi to see how you actually feel about her. From a distance, you're an open book."

I guess he's right. I've always been one to lock my insecurities away. I mastered my poker face when I was twelve.

"You're always around Yumi. You sit next to her in every class you share. You do that cute couple thing where you look into each other's eyes and smile." Odd ticks off his observations on his long fingers. "Meanwhile, you're so busy trying to make sure she doesn't figure anything out that you freak out whenever someone comes close to guessing how you think about her."

"Oh, and here's the best part!" Odd sings. "Yumi totally likes you too, and she thought that by saying you guys were good friends all the time that she'd save herself the heartbreak and embarrassment of having the truth come out and you not returning her feelings."

"And how did you get so perceptive?" I interrupt.

"I've been spending too much time around Aelita," Odd shrugs. "Back to the point. How are you going to fix things up with the girl of your dreams?"

"I dunno, Odd," I mumble. "She condemned us to being just friends. Forever."

"Wrong, sir!" Odd actually leaps out of bed. "You are going to stay by her and prove that she is as valuable as you say she is. You're going to go back to being inseparable. You're going to give her normal."

"You're right," I agree. I can do this. I can fix us.


	7. Chapter 7

Yumi

After a week of hospital stays, rest at home, and physical therapy, my parents are finally letting me go back to school. I have plenty of pain meds for my battered ribs, a heavy cast on my right leg for a fractured tibia, and I am absolutely positively not allowed to push my own wheelchair because the doctors are worried that I'll pop the sutures on my arms or something. Whatever. All I know is that until I can walk normally again, my parents are driving Hiroki and me to and from school.

Ulrich came over every day last week, bringing homework, notes, and the occasional hot chocolate. We're on the mend, I think. He's changed a lot in such a short amount of time: he's more sincere, laughs more easily, and more honest with himself. More forthcoming. Less withdrawn. It's refreshing and reassuring and nerve-wracking at the same time. I feel like I'm waiting for the next time he's going to reject me.

"Hi, Yumi," he breathes, meeting me at the parking lot. After Hiroki scampers off and our parents leave for work, he sneaks a kiss to my cheek and settles himself at the handlebars to push me to breakfast. He keeps doing little things like that. Wrapping an arm around me while watching TV. Playing with my fingers as he dozes off on the couch. And I let him. It's nice. It's terrifying.

"Hey," I say cheerfully. My breath fogs up in the late October air. His openness makes me feel vulnerable, like he's going to pull away from me as soon as I start getting used to his sudden soft side. As much as I want him to stay with me, I can't help but hold him at arm's length. For now, I hope.

Snap! "Yumi, can you tell Kadic News how it feels to be back after being brutally attacked?" Milly chatters quickly.

"Milly!" Tamia scolds her. "You can't be so blunt!"

"I feel great," I respond optimistically. "Nothing can bring me down, especially when I have my friends' support. Right, Ulrich?" I look up at him. He smiles at me.

"Right, Yumi," he responds in his usual soft-spoken manner. After weeks of skirting around each other, I've missed him. I urge him to keep walking before Milly and Tamia get over the shock of actually receiving a response and peppering us with more questions.

"You know I'd do anything for you, right, Yumi?" Ulrich asks quietly has the wheels of the wheelchair crunch on the frosty sidewalk.

"Yeah, Ulrich." I motion him down so I can return the kiss on the cheek. He makes me feel so comfortable, but I'm so paranoid. Like I'm waiting for the dust to settle.

Ulrich sighs softly, resting his head against mine.

"Ulrich, I can't…" I trail off. I can't start a relationship. I can't take this any farther. I can't jump into anything. I can't even finish my own sentence.

"I know," he says as he straightens up. "Don't worry. I don't expect anything from you." He offers me a warm smile. "I'll wait a decade for you, if that's what you want. Just tell me."

His patience is overwhelming. I don't even know what I want! "Am I… hurting you by always pulling away like this?" I ask nervously.

"No," he answers. "I'm just grateful that you've allowed me a place in your life after I treated you so badly. Besides," he starts walking again. "It's your first day back. We don't have to define anything yet. Let's just… exist," he offers.

Sounds good.

xxx

I stare at the latest issue of the Kadic News. Ulrich and Sissi, deep in conversation, are on the front cover. _NEW LOVE ON CAMPUS?_ The magazine asks boldly. I stare at Sissi's perfect long hair and slim figure. That's a girl who knows exactly what she wants and isn't afraid to say it out loud.

"Hey, Butterfly, don't torture yourself with that." Ulrich flops down next to me on the couch. Jeremie pushed me to the student center after precalculus, and Odd and Aelita were kind enough to maneuver me off of my annoying wheelchair before ambushing Jeremie on the Foosball table. Needless to say, Jeremie was losing pretty brutally, but all three of them were having too much fun to care.

"I told you that Madame Butterfly kills herself after getting her heartbroken by an American soldier," I mutter, still staring at the cover.

"Okay, fine, _Madame_ Butterfly does all that, but Yumi Butterfly is strong and graceful and full of light." I don't really believe him, but I lean into his chest anyway.

"Come on, Yumi, look at me." When I finally do, his eyes, though dark brown, are completely clear. He isn't worried anymore. He's… almost content. "When I told you that I would tell you everything, I meant it. If you have a question, just ask. Don't freak yourself out with this idle gossip."

Sissi is tall and confident and beautiful. She knows what she wants and how to get it. She's strong and whole. She's not broken like I am.

"How do you feel about Sissi?" I finally ask. I blush and burry my face into his shoulder so I don't have to see his reaction.

To my surprise, he snorts. "She's annoying," he says without missing a beat.

The tension is broken. I laugh. Then I snort like a whale because my ribs hurt. Then I laugh again because I sound so damn funny.

"Stop doing that! You're going to hurt yourself," Ulrich panics. But then he starts laughing with me, and it feels like the sun is finally coming out after a cloudy day.

xxx

"You all good there, Yumi?" Odd asks on our way to English.

"Perfect," I mutter.

"Come on now," Odd wheedles. "Tell Dr. Odd the Magnificent what's worrying you."

"English is the only class William and I have together," I admit quietly.

"William hasn't been in school since you were brought to the hospital," Odd tells me. "Mr. Delmas is taking this really seriously. Besides, with the Lyoko Warriors at hand, you have nothing to worry about. We won't let a thing get to ya, Butterfly."

"What's with this whole Butterfly business, anyway?" I complain good-naturedly. Secretly, I'm rejoicing at the news of William's disappearance. It seems that Mr. Delmas is keeping to his word when he said at our meeting yesterday that he would enforce the strictest punishment.

"Well, Jeremie's Einstein and Aelita's Princess and we might start calling Ulrich Grizzly Bear or something, so you'll be Butterfly because that seems to suit you too."

"Butterflies are frail and die easily," I say flatly.

"Are you kidding?" Odd dramatically spins me around. "Butterflies migrate thousands of miles every year to stay warm in the winter. They're a huge part of the reason that plants can bear fruit and bloom flowers! That's the toughest thing I've ever heard!"

"I still don't see how I'm like a butterfly," I insist stubbornly.

"Easy! You search for the good in people like butterflies chase the sun. And you have this great aptitude for always making people feel better."

"I think you're the one who lights up the room, Odd," I smile.

"Okay, then maybe you're like a butterfly because you're always chasing me around, and I'm like the sun because I always light up the room." He waggles his eyebrows.

"You're too much. Just take me to class," I berate him laughingly.

"Aye, aye, Madame Butterfly!"

"That's even worse!"

Our laughter floats up and down the hallway. It feels like the start of a happy beginning.


	8. Chapter 8

Ulrich

"What? No! That's a weird idea," I protest during soccer practice.

"Oh come on, Ulrich, we all know you have a special girl in mind," the Varsity captain teases playfully. For some reason, the Varsity seniors want the Varsity players to give one rose each to a special girl sitting in the stands. They think it'll increase school spirit. I think it's stupid.

"You've already ruined half of our plans," Aaron the goalie jokes. "It would have been cuter to give out our sweatshirts."

"You already know that I don't have mine anymore!" I groan from my place sprawled across the turf. William had done quite a good job at destroying it when Yumi absentmindedly wore it to school. That's what had triggered his attack: intense jealousy. He's more like me than I thought, I think to myself nervously.

"And why is that?" Blake the captain asks in amusement.

"Because I gave it to Yumi, okay?" I call out in frustration. The rest of the team laughs at me. "Haha, very funny, you guys. Next time, you try leaving a girl to freeze in the cold!"

"Okay, settle down," Aaron says. "Are you with us or not?"

"Fine," I mutter. "I'll give her the dumb flower."

"We're also having a slow dance during half time," Ben pipes up.

"What?" I shoot up into an upright position. "No way! How do you expect Yumi to dance around on a broken leg?" I ask without thinking.

"Told you he already has a special girl," Blake snickers. I blush hard.

"Chill, Ulrich, just consider us your wingmen." The entire team waggles their eyebrows at Connor's words. "We're dying for you and Yumi to get together already!"

"You guys," I flop back to the ground. "No messing around. No wingmen. No interventions, no dropping hints, no sending suggestive text messages from my phone!" I glare at Anton. He shrugs back unapologetically. Explaining that one would have been a nightmare if he had actually succeeded.

"Come on, Ulrich, it's our home game against our biggest rivals," Blake pleaded. "It's gonna be awesome to psyche them out. Anyway, how'd you screw up so badly?"

"There's no way I'm telling you bozos," I scoff. "Besides, everyone and Yumi's cousin's imaginary pet monkey know I like her. How about you and Jenny, huh?"

Blake reddens impressively. "Don't we have drills to do?" he snaps. "Alright, let's go."

I chuckle to myself as I help set up the cones. What a hypocrite.

xxx

It's the day of the big game. I'm twitching with nervous energy, disturbing half the classroom in a history quiz. This time last year, I was fiddling because I wanted to defeat Pintacon High School, but I know that I'm more nervous about Yumi's reaction to the Half Time Fiasco. I haven't even had time to ask her about it since she has missed school for the past two days for physical therapy, but she promised that she would be at the game today. The rest of the school is buzzing with excitement. As the only sophomore on the Varsity team, I keep getting subtle hints from girls who want a rose. Sheesh, they're so annoying.

"So, has Sissi bugged you for a rose yet?" Odd asks as he sits beside me during lunch.

"Nope," I laugh. "I haven't talked to her in a while, actually."

"I'll have you know," Sissi says as she pops out of nowhere, "that I'm totally over Ulrich."

"Oh, are you now?" Aelita asks after swallowing a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Of course!" Sissi flips her hair over her shoulder. "Turns out that the chase was more exciting than the guy. Besides, he's totally in love with Yumi, and I don't do rebounds. Later!"

"Wow," Odd mutters. "What a whirlwind!"  
"She's matured," Aelita observes.

"I wouldn't exactly call that mature," Jeremie disagrees.

"I meant that she is more mature than she was a month ago, not that she is actually mature," Aelita corrects. "She knows what she wants and she isn't afraid to admit it. And she's gotten over her desperation for attention."

"Whatever you say, Princess," I tell her. "I'm just glad she isn't so cuckoo anymore.

xxx

To my surprise, the soccer coach puts me in the starting lineup in today's game. This game is incredibly important; if we win this game, we move forward in the bracket to the county championship. If we're good enough, we keep going to states, then regionals, then nationals. We've already beat Oakton, which was ranked first in the county last year. I shudder as I remember that game. Yumi was in the hospital and I had been benched the entire game because I was so out of it. Now is the chance to redeem myself.

"Alright, boys," Coach Tanner says. "We're gonna fake them out the first quarter. Then we're going to put our fastest runner on offense," she continues, gesturing at me, "and score. We psyche them out with the whole rose shenanigans and tighten up the defense for the last half of the game. We play it safe, get aggressive, and tire them out."

"Kadic on three!" Blake shouts.

"One, two, three, KADIC!"

The first quarter is boring as expected. Kadic maintains control of the ball, only losing it once. Aaron, our goalie, quickly grabs it as it reaches the goal and punts far across the field. Chris passes it back towards me, where I stand in the middle right of the field in an empty space. I look for options.

"Pass the bean!" Joe shouts, bumping his fists together. I grin at our code words and secret hand motions. Digging my toe under the ball, I shoot it high in the air, over Pintacon's soccer team's heads, and right at Joe's head, who bumped it and initiated the Bean Formation.

The Bean Formation is a new play for Kadic. We put our senior offensive players into a "bean" and rush at the goal, distracting the other team and saving me for later. I didn't play that much in important games last year, and being only a sophomore this year the other team is bound to ignore me. It stops them from thinking that we aren't trying hard enough, and we might score a goal at the same time. Once the opponents have forgotten about me, I'm supposed to come out of nowhere, sprint at the goal, and score. It's going to freak them out. It's going to be awesome. _If only super sprints existed in real life,_ I smirk to myself.

Joe takes off with the ball, fakes left, and passes right to Blake. Blake, with one defender on his back, quickly passes back to Chris, who launches it to Joe. Joe had sprinted straight toward the goal and waited for his pass. He shoots for the top right corner and neatly makes it in. The crowd erupts in cheers. Goal for Kadic!

We head into the second quarter, breathing heavily. Time for another kickoff in the center of the field. Pintacon takes possession of the ball, swiftly moving towards our goal. Our defense players quickly get into formation, but Coach Tanner gestures at me to hang back towards midfield. I see Blake and Joe do the same. Soon enough, Aaron launches the ball at me, and I weave through the remaining Pintacon defenders easily. As I head toward Pintacon's goal, I see Blake in leftfield and Joe in the middle keeping pace with me. I pass the ball to Joe so that he and Blake can keep Pintacon distracted while I sprint the rest of the way to my pre-established position by the goal. My lungs are burning, but the excitement and the pressure are the best part of soccer. The turf wiggles between the spikes of my cleats. I might not be the brightest kid out there, but I excel out on the soccer field.

From all the way across the width of the field, Blake lines up to take his shot. Everyone in the stands thinks that he is winding up to shoot a goal, but the Kadic soccer team knows better. Instead of twisting his lower body left as Joe did before and as Pintacon was expecting, he makes contact with his laces and spikes it high into the air.

I take a look at the ball climbing in the air, the distance to the net, the angle that the ball is going to come down, and the angle that I have to shoot to make it in the goal… it's not going to work. My defender is easily a head and a half taller than me so heading it won't work, and if I try to gain possession on the ground my defender will have taken off with the ball before I can count to three. The audience must realize this too because everyone is a little too quiet. An idea pops into my head. It's gutsy and a little foolish and really based more on luck than skill, but what do I have to lose?

I rush towards the ball, curving my path so I come at it from behind. I hear a vague _What the hell are you doing?_ from somewhere behind me, but I ignore it. Just as the ball starts to come down, I use my momentum to flip myself over, swinging my foot well above my defender's head, and making solid contact with the ball.

The ball bounces off the right goal post and goes in. I land on my feet. The crowd goes wild. Suddenly, I'm hoisted on the shoulders of my teammates and I see talent scouts furiously scribbling in notebooks. I hope they don't see my stunt as cocky or childish, but I'm too excited over my first career goal to care.

"Alright, ladies and gents, after a riveting first half, it's now time for the Half Time Rose Ceremony!"

Shit. I had forgotten about that. I had told Yumi barely four days ago that we didn't have to define our relationship. I hope this one stupid flower doesn't ruin all of our progress.


	9. Chapter 9

Yumi

I join the crowd in cheering for Ulrich's goal. I taught him how to land on his feet after a bicycle kick. I push the memory of the last time I saw him do a bicycle kick out of my head.

He laughs from the tops of his teammates' shoulders. Ulrich isn't used to being in the spotlight – he usually avoids it completely – but he deserves his little bit of fame. He's been playing extremely well this entire game, and I know how much it means to him to be recruited for college. He'll get there. I'm sure of it. He sees me in the front row of the crowd and waves. He has dimples when he grins wide enough.

William's letter burns a hole through my jacket pocket. To say that I have barely thought about William would probably be a lie. He has absolutely torn me apart. Every time I think of him, I remember him as someone who genuinely liked me, but he was emotionally unstable enough to become uncontrollable when he felt threatened. I was content enough to ignore him until he brought me this stupid letter. I was ready to slam the door in his face until I saw how nervously his hands were shaking. Despite seeing his intense anger, I can't help but feel like he isn't purely evil. Is this bullshit or a cry for help? And now I have to deal with the gut-churning confusion of it all. I can't tell truth from lie anymore.

 _Dear Yumi,_

 _I know that I'm probably the last person you would ever want to talk to right now, but I beg you to read this letter to the end. I never should have left you in that shed when you needed my help. Please forgive me._

 _I have made a huge mistake. I had always had a shaky temper, even as a kid, and I shouldn't have let it slip that day. It's just that you mean so much to me, and seeing you in Ulrich's sweater made me feel like you were cutting me out. When I was little in Scotland, I never felt like I truly fit in. When I came to Kadic and met you, I finally found someone who would listen to me. I just wanted someone who was on my side, always cheering for me._

 _Yumi, I can't live without you. Please let me come back. I swear I'll change. I only did what I did because I love you so much. There, I said it: I love you. I wish I could have said it for the first time in person, but there's no denying that we're meant to be together. I just don't know what I would do if you didn't take me back._

 _I'll be eagerly waiting for your reply. Write soon._

 _Love,_

 _William_

 _P.S. Be careful around Ulrich. We aren't the same guy, but we share the same jealousy. I just don't want you to get hurt again._

"Alright, ladies and gents, after a riveting first half, it's now time for the Half Time Rose Ceremony!" the announcer booms, interrupting my thoughts. Odd had mentioned some kind of surprise at today's soccer game, and I guess this is it.

"Wait!" Blake rushes to the microphone. "Jenny Park, if I could have your attention…" The Varsity team members lines up shoulder to shoulder, each boy pulling off their soccer jerseys and turning around. Ulrich sends me a wink before shedding his shirt and spinning around. Aelita nudges me. I blush.

The Varsity team has "WINTER FORMAL" painted across their backs. Blake strips off his shirt to reveal a question mark dotted with a heart on his chest.

"Isn't it a little early to be asking people to the winter formal in January?" Jeremie asks.

"Oh, shut up, Einstein," Aelita, Odd, and I say at once. The crowd waits impatiently. Jenny answers by rushing down the bleachers and flinging herself around Blake's neck. He hands her a rose and they start dancing to a slow song blasting from the speakers.

"Aww, that was so cute," Aelita sighs as she flops her head against my shoulder.

"Definitely," I agree. Soon after Blake and Jenny start dancing together, the other soccer players ask girls to dance, each carrying a red rose in hand.

"This song is so romantic," Aelita gushes. "Kiss me like you wanna be loved," she sings along with the rest of the crowd. Me? I'm not the type to attract attention, so I'm content to watch the other couples and listen to Aelita's smooth voice against the crackling stereo.

"Would you like to dance, Yumi?" Ulrich extends a rose towards me, eyes sparkling. He shuffles his feet as he waits for me to reply. I'm shocked. Me? Broken, nervous, plain old me?

"Would ya answer the man?" Odd pokes me. I glance down at my bum leg.

"It's not a problem," Ulrich reassures me. I shove William's note out of my head for a minute. Ulrich makes me feel so warm. Like hot apple cider on a fall day. Like marshmallows on a winter night. I take a chance.

"I'd love to," I reply, taking the rose. He sweeps me into his arms and carries me to the rest of the dancing partners. He swings me around as I laugh.

"You should have told me to wear something nice," I berate him, remembering my clothes. The other girls are wearing cozy knit dresses and curve-hugging jeans and chunky sweaters. I'm wearing the only things that will fit me in my state of injury: baggy sweatpants and a comfortable zip-up hoodie.

"I think you always look nice," he says with such sincerity I feel like melting. I would if the rustling of William's note in my pocket didn't remind me of the way he would feed me compliments to get me to return his feelings. I brush William aside.

 _"_ _I've been feeling everything,"_ the singer croons, _"from hate to love, from love to lust, from lust to truth…"_

Very slowly, I pick up my cheek from its comfortable position against Ulrich's heartbeat. I swear my heart stops when I realized that he had never stopped looking at my face. It's a look that I've never seen in William's eyes: instead of possessiveness, I see protectiveness. I see hurt, I see regret, I see remorse. With his hands firmly wrapped around my back, I realize how much he doesn't want to let me go. I don't know if I should feel cherished or trapped.

 _"_ _Kiss me like you wanna be loved…"_ I flash back to that afternoon in the hospital when he said that he had wanted to kiss me that day in the gym.

Our lips drift closer. My thumb finds the corner of his face between his jawline and his ear. I vaguely hear the crowd scream kiss in the background. I'm not about to make the same mistake twice.

He meets me halfway. He kisses me like he wants to be loved.

William's note burns a hole through my pocket.


End file.
